Cry of the Wolf
by SeaSpectre160
Summary: After the Frontier gang returns from the Digital World, everything should be fine, right? Wrong! After all, Kousei kept Koichi's existence a secret, and now it's blown. How will that affect things?
1. Growing Up in Lies

**I have worked really hard on this story, and I hope you enjoy it. This story will be completed on the 6th of March. **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon. This includes the dialogue in the last three scenes of this chapter. The first two of those are from episode 27, and the last one is from episode 1. **

**CLAIMER: I own Kiyan. **

**"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageuos. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." ~ Joshua 1:9**

**"Act the way you'd like to be and soon you'll be the way you act." - Leonard Cohen**

* * *

A man and woman stood outside a suburban house, a pile of luggage sitting on the sidewalk. Each of them held an infant in their arms. A yellow cab pulled up in front of them. At the woman's request, the driver began picking up her suitcases and tossing them into the trunk and backseat. The woman walked over to her now ex-husband – or more specifically, the child he was holding.

"Goodbye, Koji," she whispered tearfully, kissing him on the forehead, "Mommy's always going to miss you." She gave the man a cold, hurt glare before getting into the cab. As the taxi drove away, both babies started to cry.

* * *

I sat alone at my table, idly colouring the picture in front of me. Several other kids were doing the same, but they avoided me. Nobody wanted to sit with the **new kid**. Of course, I would get used to it some years later.

It was my first day of school here. I'd started at a different school at the beginning of the year, but then Daddy had told me we were going to live in a new house. At first I thought he meant we would be living with my friend Mikey. But instead, I learned that the new house was in another city, and I couldn't go to school with any of my friends. Daddy told me I could make new friends; but so far, it wasn't happening. My fellow kindergarteners were mean to me. One of them threw a wooden building block at my head!

I continued rubbing the blue crayon onto the paper. The teacher said it was Mother's Day soon, so we were colouring a picture of a mommy and child. Lots of other kids were talking about their mommies while they coloured.

I wished I had a mommy. Or a brother or sister. I loved Daddy, but it was still very lonely, just the two of us.

"My mommy bakes cookies when I help her do chores and stuff."

I did my best to help Daddy wash the dishes, but all I ever got was a thank-you.

"My mommy taught me how to paint."

Daddy never had time to do that, and besides, I didn't really like painting, anyway.

"My mommy reads me and my brother a bedtime story every night."

I wondered what it was like to hear a story right before bed.

"Do you have a yellow crayon?" I looked up. A boy with brown hair and green eyes stood by my table. I nodded and dug through my brand-new blue pencil case, eventually producing a fat yellow crayon. "Thank you." The boy smiled. "I'm Kiyan," he said, "Do you wanna sit with me?" Quietly, I gave him a small smile of my own and nodded.

* * *

"'Bye, Kiyan." It'd been almost three years since Kiyan had come over to my table to borrow a yellow crayon. We were now best friends, but I was moving again. Dad was getting married in less than a week, and we were relocating to a new house closer to the new Mrs. Minamoto's neighbourhood.

The new Mrs. Minamoto. Who did she think she was? Even though Mom was dead, it didn't mean that Dad could marry another woman. Did he even care? Did he even miss her? I didn't need a new mom, and I sure didn't want one.

I tried my best not to cry as I sat in the backseat of Dad's car, watching my best friend, my home, and my life shrink into the distance.

* * *

Another three years and four moves later, I sat alone in my new room, the door tightly shut. My stuff was still in boxes. What was the point of unpacking, anyway? Just give Dad and my **step**mom a couple months, and we'd be on the road again. I hadn't even bothered to come downstairs when the new neighbours popped by to say hello. So what if they had a kid my age? I'd stopped trying to make friends long ago. The next move would be a little less painful if I didn't have to leave something – or someone – behind. It barely even bothered me anymore. Friends were okay, but they'd always leave life eventually. I was just better prepared for it than most people. Besides, I liked being alone.

The only thing I'd unpacked, aside from my clothes, was a two-sided picture frame. A photograph of my 'family' – me, Dad, and my **step**mom – stared at me from my bedside table. Frowning, I poked at the top so that it flipped over, showing a different picture. A woman with dark hair and blue eyes – **my** eyes – smiled at me now. A tiny spark of contentment filled my heart for a second, but it was soon drowned in grief. _'I wish you were here,'_ I thought.

"Koji?" Dad was right outside the door.

"Yeah?"

"Coming in." Dad opened the door, smiling at first, but the contentedness on his face faded as he noticed the picture. "Your mom's photo. I haven't seen that in a long time. Son, I know it's been hard since your mom died, but you've got to accept your stepmom."

I stared at the floor angrily. Even after three years, Dad was still bugging me about it. And why did he try to make it sound like Mom had died only a couple months ago, or something. Like I actually got the chance to know her? "But she's **not** my mom! She'll never be! I don't need a mom anymore." I knew that last sentence was a lie, but it made me feel a tiny bit better. Just a **tiny** bit.

"Well, could you at least try to be nice to her for my sake?"

* * *

The bell above the door tinkled as I walked into the florist's. Dad obviously wasn't going to stop bugging me unless I got my **step**mom something for their third anniversary, which was today. I stopped by a glass display case and looked at the rows of various bouquets, unsure of what to get.

"Hi!" A peppy young shopkeeper popped up in front of me, making me jump in surprise. "Looking for a present for someone?"

"Uh…" People that energetic were the ones I found to be a little scary. It was just unnatural to be permanently cheerful.

"It's for your mother, right?"

"Kind of."

"I'm not a witch or anything. I just like to guess that stuff. Do you want some help?"

"Uh... yeah."

"Ooh, I love my job! All right, let's find something really pretty!" She bustled over to the counter and began looking through a set of large ribbons. "Lemme guess, birthday? No, anniversary!"

"Their anniversary's today. How'd you know that?"

"I don't know, it's my own little game. So, what? About ten, or fifteen years?"

"Actually, it's three years."

"Three years. How wonderful for them." She stopped to take a closer look at me. "Wait a minute, you must be at least twelve. How've your parents only been married for three years, huh?"

I stared at the floor for the second time that day, this time in embarrassment. I hated talking about this. "Um… well…"

"Koji? Are you there?" What was that? The sound seemed to come from my pocket. As the flower shop girl turned back to her work, I pulled out my now ringing cell phone.

"What is this?" A weird symbol had popped up on the screen.

"This is part of a game, a test to determine your future."

O-kay. My phone was talking to me. Weird. "My future?"

"Yes." The symbol vanished, replaced by two icons: Yes and No. "Are you willing to play?" Was I? It's wasn't like this would really make much of a difference, and I felt compelled to check it out. "Koji?"

Hesitantly, thinking: _'What the heck?'_ I pressed the OK button, selecting Yes.

"Very good. Now, you must get to Shibuya Station by six. Take the elevator to the basement."

"What?" I glanced at the clock. It was already 5:15. I had less than an hour. "But I – I have to go to my-"

"Hey!" the salesgirl chirped, holding a beautifully wrapped bouquet of pink and blue roses, "Flowers are ready!"

"I'll pick 'em up later, okay?" I turned on my heel and ran out.

"But… alright. Bye!"

* * *

I felt my stomach lurch as the elevator continued to plummet downward. This had to be the craziest situation I'd gotten myself into. First I'd impulsively followed some random instructions from a random text message and travelled two or three cities away from home. Now I was stuck in an elevator that was descending **way** below the marked floors. I wasn't alone in the elevator; a kid my age with weird goggles worn over his hat had only barely managed to dive in headfirst. He seemed to have received a mysterious message as well, but I didn't talk to him, something the guy was a little put off about. Not that I cared.

"My destiny's really starting to bite!" he exclaimed frustration as we continued downward.

CRASH! "OOF!"

Ding.

The elevator had jolted to a stop, the kid had fallen over, and the doors had opened. "Man, I **really** gotta stop landing on my head," he complained.

I peeked out. Eight or nine trains were sitting in a semicircle inside a huge room, Dozens of other kids milled about, chatting amongst themselves. "It's up to you now." Great. My phone was talking again. "Which one will you choose?" I took a look around and settled for the plain white locomotive. I ran over to it, ignoring the other kid as he called after me.

When the trains took off less than a minute later, I watched as the kid barely made it onto the train next to mine. We locked eyes for a moment until our trains zoomed into separate tunnels.

* * *

**Please, tell me what you think. No flames, though. Nobody likes those. Next chapters are all my work. The aftermath of Koji introducing Koichi to his family. **


	2. Shouting

**Et voici chapitre deux! **

**That french for: And here's chapter two! **

**Most of this story is in Koji's POV, but there are like, two scenes that are just narrator's point of view, including the one at the bottom here. **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon. Although it would be pretty sweet if I did. **

** "You have made known to me the path of life; yo will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." ~ Psalm 16:11 **

**"Doing nothing is very hard to do... you never know when you're finished." ~ Leslie Martin**

* * *

I glanced over at Koichi nervously as we turned into the driveway. I still wasn't sure how to go through with this. What was I supposed to say, exactly? 'Hey, Dad. I just met my long-lost identical twin brother. You know, the one you never told me about.' Somehow, I doubted **that** would go over well. Koichi was giving me the exact same look; he was anxious, too.

We made it to the front door far too soon for my liking. "So... same story we gave Mom, right?" I asked. Oh yeah, and how would Dad react when he found out I knew about Mom, too?

"If you mean that we just randomly bumped into each other on the street and started talking," Koichi replied with a small grin, "and nothing about travelling to an alternate universe and fighting evil monsters, then yeah." Right. Leave the Digital World out of the conversation at all costs. Who would believe us, anyway?

"Okay, let's get this over and done with. Just stay by the door and don't make a sound until I tell you to come out."

"And what if they come to the door?"

"I don't know. Hide in the coat closet, or something." I grabbed the knob, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open. "I'm home!" I announced. I shut the door as soon as Koichi quietly slipped past me. Yanking off my sneakers, I walked into the living room, where Dad and Satomi still sat on the couch, right where I'd left them weeks – no, only a couple hours ago. It was hard to believe we'd spent over a month in the Digital World, and then come home only to discover it had all passed within ten minutes.

"Koji, where were you?" Satomi asked. Hearing the concern in her voice, I mentally kicked myself for ever hating her.

"I just went out for a while. But there's something I want to talk to you guys about." Dad and Satomi both motioned for me to sit down, so I sank into the armchair across from them. "While I was out, I kind of bumped into this other kid, and… well, he looked exactly like me." They both tensed up right away. Did they already know who I was talking about? "So we started chatting, and, uh…" Okay, this wasn't working. Time for my usual method – just bluntly saying it. "I know about Mom and Koichi now." There. I'd said it. "And I kind of brought Koichi here." Right away, Koichi stepped out quietly from his hiding place. Dad and Satomi both seemed startled by his sudden appearance.

"Um… hello," Satomi greeted him. She gave him a small smile, which he gladly returned. So far, this was going all right.

Then I looked over at Dad. His expression was stony. **Not** a good sign. "It's getting late," he stated, "Koichi, it was nice seeing you again, but you should probably get home. Nice seeing him again?! It hadn't even been thirty seconds! Dad hadn't even said hello! "Koji, we need to talk. Alone."

I sent a suspicious look at him. "Anything you can say to me, you can say in front of Koichi," I spat back. At this point, the mood was pretty intense. Satomi and Koichi glanced back and forth between Dad and me, just watching while we engaged in a fierce staring contest.

"Fine. I don't want you two to contact each other ever again."

"What?!" I shouted, standing up, my hands curling into tight fists. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Was Dad really intending to do this to his own two sons?

"You heard me. And if you even **mention** your brother's name under my roof, you'll be grounded until high school."

"Kousei," Satomi began, "I don't think-"

"This is ridiculous!" I interrupted, "What do you have against Koichi that you won't even let me talk to **my own brother**?!"

"I have my reasons." Dad was starting to lose his cool. "And I'm putting my foot down!"

"FINE! THEN I'M OUTTA HERE!" I yelled, tears of anger spilling down my face. I ran to the door, stopping only to put on my shoes, and bolted. Both Koichi and Satomi called out to me, but I didn't listen. I just ran.

* * *

I made it all the way to the city before I finally got tired. I was slightly surprised at the distance I'd travelled. All that time in the Digital World sure had increased my endurance, and being thoroughly pissed beyond words had definitely added an extra mile or two.

How could Dad do this? Sure, I'd expected him to be a **little** upset when I re-introduced him to Koichi. After all, he'd kept my twin's existence a secret for about ten years. But this was **way** more than a **bit** extreme. Did Mom and Dad hate each other that much?

I couldn't go home. I needed someplace to crash. Then I remembered that my other fellow Warriors had exchanged addresses and phone numbers with me and Koichi. I still had the slip of paper in my back pocket. Looking over the addresses, I figured that Takuya's house was the closest. But he was probably still in the middle of his little brother's birthday party. I was pretty pissed, but not enough to crash a kid's birthday.

* * *

Ding dong. Yutaka heaved himself off the couch and trudged over to answer the door. Pulling it open, he saw a tired-looking kid, about eleven or twelve years old, standing before him.

"Uh…" the kid mumbled, "Is this the Himi Place?"

"Yeah," Yutaka replied coolly.

"Is Tommy home?"

"Um, just a sec. Tommy! Door!" Tommy jumped up from his spot in front of the TV and hurried over.

"Who's – oh hey, Koji!" he cried. Koji did not smile back. Tommy's grin immediately faded. "What's wrong?"

"Can I come in?" Koji mumbled, staring at his shoes.

"Well, my mom and dad aren't home, but if it's okay with Yutaka…" He looked up hopefully at his big brother.

Yutaka sighed. "Fine," he relented. Tommy smiled and pulled Koji inside. Koji sat down on the couch, not taking his eyes off the floor.

"So what are you doing here? Why aren't you at home?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Koji muttered.

"You **never** want to talk about anything, even when you really need to. Come on, tell me." Still nothing. "Does Koichi know you're here?" A shake of the head. "Did you guys get into a fight, or something?"

"I had a fight, but not with Koichi." He sighed in apparent defeat. "Dad was upset for some reason when I brought Koichi home. He said we weren't allowed to hang out anymore, like we never even met." So then I started yelling, and **he** started yelling, so I bolted. I don't get why Dad doesn't want me to be around my own brother. It's just not right!" By now, he'd clenched his fists and begun shaking in anger and frustration. Yutaka just stood there awkwardly while Tommy got up beside his friend and patted him on the shoulder.

* * *

**Okay, so this one's a little short, but I think it was pretty good. Only one chapter left! **


	3. Start Over

**Now here's the final chapter. This is one of the shortest stories I've ever done. The first scene is mostly for comedy, but near the end, it's supposed to point out how much Koji has changed in the Digital World. **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon. (Wish I did, though) **

**CLAIMER: I own the little blurb at the very bottom. That is ALL MINE! **

**"Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD of glory and strength, ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness." ~ 1 Chronicles 16:28-29**

**"Nothing's impossible. It's what you decide your limits are." ~ Lori Ann Muenzer**

* * *

By the next morning, Koji still hadn't come home, so Satomi called the police. Eventually, they managed to get a hold of the Kimuras, and soon Koichi was at the station with his mother.

"Did your brother call you or contact you in any way after he ran off?" one cop asked him.

"No."

"So you're saying you have no idea where he is?"

"Yes."

"Then where is he?"

"What?"

"You said yes, you know where he is."

"No, I said yes, I'm saying I **don't** know!" This was going nowhere.

Pretty soon, the police instructed Koichi to call each one of their friends to see if Koji had stopped by. And officer tapped into his cell phone frequency so that they could listen in. First on the list was Takuya.

"Hey, Koichi! What's up?!" the team leader greeted his friend.

Koichi wasted no time in getting to the point. "Koji ran away from home. Have you seen him?"

"What? He ran away? Why would he do that?"

"Takuya! Yes or no?!"

"Sorry, I haven't. I just don't get why he would run off. I mean, sure, he did that to **us** about half a dozen times, but I thought all that drama was over."

"It's a long story, but I've gotta call the others. Just let me know if he stops by."

"Uh-huh. I will. 'Bye." _Click._

Next was Zoe. "No, I haven't seen him, but the next time I do, I'll pound his head in for running off!" _Click._

JP hadn't heard from Koji either, so that left Tommy. "Yeah, he's at my house right now. He showed up last night, and I let him sleep over. Wanna talk to him?"

"Yes!" Koichi insisted.

A pause. "Hello?" Koji sounded annoyed. "Koichi?"

"Oh, finally! Are you all right?"

"What do you want?"

"I'm at the police station. Satomi called the cops this morning when you didn't come home."

"Look, I **really** don't want to come home right now."

"Okay, I know Dad was being unfair, but-"

"Unfair?! I didn't think you'd go that easy on him."

"Alright, he was acting like a cold-hearted jerk, and I'm not too happy with the stuff he said, either."

"You still talking to him?"

"Koji." Koichi's tone became very serious, even more so than before. "I never got to see him for most of my life. Just because I'm mad at him right now doesn't mean I'm not going to try and fix things. Anyway, you have to understand, you really scared us when you ran off like that. I called the rest of the gang, and they're worried, too. Oh, and Zoe says she's going to pound your head in for it."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. But I just can't face him again, not until he takes back everything he said. Tell him that."

"But-" _Click._ Koji had hung up.

"Good work, kid," one cop congratulated Koichi, "Now we'll just send a squad car to pick him up, and this'll be over."

"I seriously doubt it. If Koji doesn't want to come back yet, then he'll make sure of it. And sending cops to the Himi place will only make things worse. Koji just needs space."

"You haven't even known him for a day, Koichi," Kousei interrupted, "How could you possibly know what he needs?"

"I'd say I know him way better than you do. He spends all of his free time alone in his room, but he's already told me probably everything about himself, and definitely more than you know."

"I doubt that."

"You'd be surprised. If you look hard enough, I bet you'll barely recognize Koji next time you see him."

* * *

I sat on the couch in Tommy's living room, watching him play a video game. His brother Yutaka was next to me, constantly switching his gaze between me and his sports magazine. It was a little unnerving. Of course, not as unnerving as when their parents had come home at around midnight to find me trying to get to sleep on the couch. Mrs. Himi had screamed, and Mr. Himi had nearly whacked me over the head with his briefcase. Luckily, Tommy and Yutaka had run down just in time to explain everything. Granted, the grownups were still a little nervous around me. Apparently, they weren't used to housing runaways.

"Yes!" Tommy had just blown up a big purple sledgehammer-wielding space monkey.

A knock on the door. Mrs. Himi was the one who answered it, and then she called for me. I slowly got up and made my way over, intentionally dragging my feet on the floor to slow myself down a bit more.

It was Koichi. He practically strangled me in a hug. "Come on," he murmured, "Mom and Satomi have been worried sick."

I pulled away. "I already told you, I'm **not** going home."

"Listen, the police were **this close** to sending a whole team to come get you. And they'll still do that if you don't come right now."

"I don't know.

"You don't have to deal with Dad if you don't want to, but you do need to come back. Please."

I didn't know what to do. How could I go back to Dad after he lied to me about having a brother and kept me in the dark about Mom, and then forbade me from seeing either of them once I knew the truth? On the other hand, if I stayed here, cops would swarm all over the house. I had a feeling Tommy's family wouldn't be all too happy about that. In the end, I made my choice. "Fine. But I'm not talking to Dad."

"You're going home?" I nearly jumped. I hadn't realised Tommy was right behind me. He gave me a small smile. "Well, see you. I hope everything works out."

I gave him a smile of my own. "Thanks for letting me stay over, Tommy. Later."

"'Bye."

* * *

Back at home, I was up in my room, lying on the bed, tossing a ball of wadded-up paper in the air and catching it over and over again. Satomi and Mom had greeted me with open arms, and it turned out they'd become best friends while waiting for me. Mostly they bonded over their worry for me, and the fact that neither of them liked what Dad had done. Zoe, Takuya, and JP had all called in the past hour, asking if I was okay. Zoe started going on and on about how I'd scared everyone by running away. After a while, I figured she wasn't going to stop her ranting anytime soon, so I hung up. She'd probably call back any minute, once she realised I wasn't there.

A knock on the door. Without waiting for a reply, Dad came in and sat down by the bed. The two of us were quiet for a long time.

"What do you want?" I asked, finally breaking the silence.

"I want to apologize," he stated.

"Go ahead, then."

"I'm sorry I didn't want you hanging out with Koichi. It's just that… your mother and I still don't get along very well, and I didn't want you near a kid she raised."

"Even though he's my own brother?" I snapped.

"Yes. Believe me, though, I had my reasons, and-"

"You're not apologizing."

"What?"

"You're just making excuses for yourself. Some people might say it means you're not really sorry at all."

He sighed. "I **am** sorry. I was just worried, that's all."

"Worried?"

"Well, your mother practically hated me the last time we really spoke, and I was afraid that if you spent time with her, then…"

"I'd hate you too?" For the first time, I actually rolled over to face my dad. "That'll **never** happen. Even when I was mad, I've never actually hated you. Okay?" He smiled, and for some reason, I smiled back. "And… I'm sorry I ran off. I was sure I'd kicked that habit."

"You've done this before?"

"Uh… It's a long story. So am I still grounded?"

"For running off, yes. For bringing our family back together, are you kidding?"

My cell rang, and I picked up, immediately regretting it.

"Koji, why did you hang up on me?! I told you guys never to do that again! Ugh, why do you never let me finish-" _Click._

**Well, how was that? When Koichi was talking to Kousei, I was trying to point out that since Koichi spent weeks in the DW (that's what I'm calling it now) with Koji, he has actually gotten to know him better than their Dad has, especially since Koji is a bit of a different person now, and Kousei hasn't really noticed it yet. **

**Now here's a segment from my next story - Return to the Digital World 2: Turning Tides! Make sure you read the first part, though. **

**_"What?!" Koichi cried. Koji shoved his bandanna back out of his face to stare at her. "But you're one of us! This is your destiny!" _**

**_"I don't believe in destiny, Koichi." _**

**_"Really?" Koji interjected, "Up until yesterday, you didn't believe in alternate dimensions, did you?" _**

**_"It doesn't matter. Whatever happens in the Digital World is not my problem. If the rest of you want to put yourselves in danger for it, then that's your choice. But don't expect me to get involved." She crossed her arms and marched away. _**

* * *


End file.
